 Poster: A snowHead
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Family of advance adults and beginner 5 and 3 year olds. Looking at going to Aletsch next Easter and staying bettmeralp.
The village looks perfect for our children’s first ski trip but I’m concerned about the adults ski week. Villages look high but all slopes are south facing. Can anyone advise what the snow is usually like late in the season?
The vertical decent isn’t huge and the resort km isn’t massive. Is there enough to keep advance skiers happy for a week?
Keen to hear everyone’s thoughts! Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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never been there but Easter next season is relativ early. So i suppose will not be a problem at all.
In the German/Swiss forum, they mention that there are many flat links between the slopes. Do not know how much will this bother, oh honestyl how much is much for them or us. Hope you understand what i mean 
Check out here
https://alpinfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=2831&start=25
Last two posts, are from 11.April and 28.March. You can have an idea....
PS i want also visit Aletsch...maybe in HT next year. Do not know exactly but because of the Glacier worths definitely a visit.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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It’s included on the 4 vallées annual pass and a lot of pass holders go there regularly for an away day. The scenery is fantastic and the villages are typically Swiss. We went in the middle of march on a warm day and had a great time. I’m not sure if there’s enough there if you are a gung-ho skier who wants to ski from first to last lifts.
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The seasons in Valais have been characterised by very good late snow around Easter. As you suggest it can deteriorate fast on the South facing slopes. But the Arena is deceptive. It’s bigger and more nuanced than first view.
Positives - a good record of late snow, and the height helps preserve the condition. A large linked area with plenty of finnicky bits for maintaining interest over a week. Those who want to ski massive distances as in three valleys will need to change their mentality to ‘right let’s now try that bit over there….’. So with the right mindset 104km of piste is ok for advanced skiers. Also get a guide for some off piste stuff. Good thing is that there are three key gondola which enable bad weather laps - avoids frozen misery on long drags (Arolla) or chairs (Anzere).
Negatives: locals are increasingly complaining of slopes being closed. The linking blues can suffer poor coverage - remember that the Arena is three separate villages connected by linking pistes. Note that the car parks in the valley which must be used can be frustratingly full - but at the time you are going that prob won’t be a problem.
Upshot - would I go there for a week in late season? Yes.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@thomasonad, you have a double post BTW - just drop into the other one and press remove post
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| turms2 wrote: |
In the German/Swiss forum, they mention that there are many flat links between the slopes. Do not know how much will this bother, oh honestyl how much is much for them or us. Hope you understand what i mean
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I totally agree. Been there twice (for 3+1 days) and while I did enjoy the resort, I found navigating it a bit of a hassle. I suppose it's fine once you know well where to go to take each lift, which blues/traverses you might wanna avoid or only take if really necessary etc etc. But I didn't feel like you could just spontaneously choose a slope and see where you end up, or figure out where the lift is when you get there, cause you often got stuck or had to walk.
The views are indeed spectacular (you can even see the Matterhorn) and the slopes are kind of ingrained into the villages, so you're skiing down a slope and at some point realise you're now skiing on a street with shops and hotels and pedestrians. That is quite nice to see, though it does sometimes cause the situations I mentioned (getting a bit lost on where exactly the lift is, needing to walk etc).
On the other hand, the resort is all south facing and the slopes are all next to one another, so in a way that also makes it fairly "visible" and easier to navigate.
This year I was there for a day in the last week of March and the conditions were nice, albeit a bit slushier under 2400m.
Lifts are modern and I think it doesn't tend to get too busy.
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My son's school trip was for many years to Fiesch, linked and just up the road from Bettmer. If you are looking at Bettmeralp, it means you are staying up the mountain (there's a Fiescheralp and a Riederalp). It's excellent for beginners, but all the blues and reds are, essentially, identical. For a week, not a problem, but we went three years in a row. No nightlife to speak of, either up or down the mountain (this is Fiesch, but I would assume Bettmer is the same). The views are spectacular (of the Aletch glacier, with the Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger behind it, and, in the other direction, the mountains separating Switzerland from Italy (including the Matterhorn).
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